Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Freescale Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 04 October 2002
Process enhancements to cut power
consumption
The latest performance enhancement to Motorola's 0.18 and 0.35 micron SiGe:C heterojunction bipolar transistor in a BiCMOS process is expected to provide longer battery life.
The latest performance enhancement to Motorola's 0.18 and 0.35 micron SiGe:C heterojunction bipolar transistor in a BiCMOS process is expected to provide longer battery life, meaning longer talk times for portable products including cellular phones This enhancement was presented this week at the IEEE's bipolar/BiCMOS circuits and technology meeting
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Motorola drives for driver information systems
Motorola is developing a family of microcontrollers for the driver information systems (DIS) market.
MCU and DSP features combine in Flash hybrids
The 56F826 and 56F827 are Motorola's newest Flash-based hybrid controllers.
By optimising the way the transistor is built, power consumption may be reduced by a factor of four, and a 60% improvement in peak frequency performance may be obtained, in comparison with the existing process.
"Our full suite of passives along with RF/analogue MOS and optimised silicon germanium carbon are designed to enable new products while allowing current reduction in existing products", said Dr Vida Ilderem, director of RF/IF silicon technologies for Motorola.
"High integration and low cost make this technology very attractive for wireless handset applications".
Further reading
DSP56800 design software comes for free
Motorola is offering a complimentary licence of the award-winning Metrowerks CodeWarrior for DSP56800 integrated development environment (IDE) with the purchase of a DSP56800 evaluation module.
Best-in-class claim for new DragonBalls
Motorola claims its two new DragonBall microprocessor products - DragonBall MX1 and DragonBall Super VZ - provide best-in-class handheld performance and battery life.
Silicon germanium allows for the integration of multiple functions onto a single chip.
This optimised chip-making process helps to further conserve power consumption, while improving performance.
Motorola's process integrates a high performance HBT with CMOS analogue and digital functions on a single chip.
Because the development was done on existing technology platforms, designers can use the existing models, libraries and standard cell designs for the 0.18- and 0.35-micron BiCMOS processes.
Cutoff frequencies have been improved from 50 to 80GHz (0.35-micron BiCMOS) and 120GHz (0.18-micron BiCMOS) with a reduction in minimum noise figure from 0.9 to 0.3dB.
This performance has been realised through vertical and lateral scaling of the transistors.
"These significant improvements in power consumption and RF noise boost the capabilities of an already leadership technology", said Behrooz Abdi, vice president and general manager of Motorola's Radio Products Division.
"These are key metrics for the wireless mobile market.
They are intended to enable our existing and future customers to offer leadership products to the cellular, wireless LAN and GPS markets with unprecedented levels of integration".
Motorola has introduced several products using its first-generation 0.35-micron SiGe:C process including the RF portion of its i.250 Innovative Convergence wireless platform.
The 0.18-micron process was qualified in the first quarter of 2002, with products planned for early 2003.
• Freescale Semiconductor: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
